Bureau of Purchasing

What We're About

The Purchasing Bureau within the Department of Finance is charged with the timely and efficient procurement of quality goods and services at the lowest price for the City of Rochester's municipal departments. The Bureau is also responsible for disposing of surplus property. If you're interested in becoming a vendor and doing business with the City, please read on.

Where We're Located

The Purchasing Bureau is located in room 105-A of City Hall (30 Church St) in Downtown Rochester, on the corner of Church and Fitzhugh Streets. You can get to Fitzhugh Street by taking the Plymouth Avenue exit from 490 to Church Street. When traveling west from Syracuse, turn left at Plymouth Avenue. When traveling east from Buffalo, turn right at Plymouth Avenue. Downtown parking is available at several locations near City Hall.

To contact the City's Purchasing Bureau, call (585) 428-7041 between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday.

City Bid Offerings

Weekly listings are updated and may be viewed with the following links:

Bids closed more than 60 days ago can be requested through a FOIL request.

Bid information is also available through these sources:

In the reception area of Room 105A in City Hall

Call (585) 428-7041 to request mailing of a specific bid offering

In City branch libraries

On City TV access channel 12 from 11 p.m. to 9 a.m. (viewing is repeated every 5 minutes)

In the classified section of Rochester's Daily Record newspaper. Bid information can be found in the Public Notices section with the Legal Ads on the first work day of each week except when a holiday is observed on a Monday, the ad will appear on Tuesday. Construction (Public Works) bids are available for viewing in the Purchasing Bureau and at two (2) local companies:

How to...

Surplus Sales and Auctions

The Bureau of Purchasing sells used and obsolete City equipment through public auctions. More information

Rochester Schools Modernization Program

To view bids related to the Rochester Schools Modernization Program (RSMP), click here.

Incentive Program for Public Works Contracts

The City of Rochester will provide an incentive program for hiring City residents residing in certain City zip codes for public works contracts for which the final contract price is for an amount of $50,000 or more. More information.

More About Purchasing

MWBE: Meeting Community Needs Minority and Woman Business Enterprises (MWBEs) are important to the City. To increase the participation of MWBEs, the City of Rochester solicits written quotes primarily from MWBEs for construction (public works) projects up to $20,000. The City also solicits MWBEs for general office supplies and printing. On projects costing $20,000 or more, NYS law requires the City to advertise for and accept bids from any responsible bidder. More information.